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(No Model.) I J. S. LAMAR. COTTON 0110mm.

Patented Sept. 22, 188.5.-

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UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE.

JAMES S. LAMAR, OF AUGUSTA, GEORGIA.

COTTON-CHOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 326,570, dated September 22,1885. Application filed July 24, 1885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES S. LAMAR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Augusta, in the county of Richmond and State of Georgia, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Cotton-Choppers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to an improvement in cotton-choppers; and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices that will be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

This invention is an improvement on that for which I filed an application for Letters Patent of the United States June 4, 1885, Serial N 0. 167,655.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cotton-chopper embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed view.

A represents the main shaft or axle, to the center of which is fixed a driving-wheel, B, having a broad rim, and near one end of the axle is mounted a supporting-wheel, O, of the same diameter as wheel B. This wheel (J is permitted to turn freely on the axle A independently of the latter, and is prevented from sliding laterally thereon by suitable collars, as shown.

D represents the thills, to the ends of which are secured downwardly and rearwardly extending iron rods E, the lower ends of which have eyes that fit on the ends of the axle and form the journals in which the latter rotates. Suitable collars prevent the axle from moving' laterally in the eyes of the rods.

On the axle, about midway between the wheels B and O, is loosely mounted a casting, E, which has a sleeve or bearing, 6, for the axle, and two rearWardly-extending semicircular arms, 6, which are in the same vertical plane. F represents a similar casting, which has a bearing, f, for the chopper-shaft, and two forwardly -extending semicircular arms, f, that are pivoted to the arms 6 by bolts f that are in line vertically with each other. From the upper arm f extends upwardly and rearwardly a projection, to which the handles G are secured, as shown.

A shaft, H, is journaled in the casting F, and has secured to its rear end a cotton-chopping wheel, I, which is of the usual construction, and to the front end of the said shaft is fixed a substantially spherical pinion, K, the center of which aligns with the centers of the bolts f.

A gear-wheel, L, is fixed to'the axle A, and meshes with the pinion K, the teeth of said wheel being curved, as at Z in Fig. 2, and adapted to mesh with pinion K, no matter at what angle the shafts A and H may be placed with reference to each other. It follows from this construction that the cotton-chopper may be either raised or lowered, the fulcrum being at the axle A, or moved laterally from side to side, by reason of the bearing-castings E and F being jointed or pivoted together by the bolts f and thus permit a universal movement to the chopper without disconnecting its operating gearing.

- M represents a chain that is secured at one end to the cross-bar of the thills, and is attached at its opposite end to a rod, N, that passes through a crossbar, 9, connecting the handles. A thumb nut, 0, works on 'the threaded end of this rod. By means 01' this chain and rod the chopping mechanism is sup- 8o ported at a suitable distance from the ground, and can be adjusted up or down by turning the thumb-nut on the rod.

A bar, P, is also pivoted at its front end, and provided near its rear end, on the under side, with a notch or shoulder, 19, that catches on the cross-bar y when the chopper is raised high above the ground, and supports the chopper in that position when being drawn along and not in operation. 0

I11 Fig. 2the dotted lineX represents the row of young cotton-plants with which the shaft H of the cotton-chopper is in vertical line, and the dotted line Z represents the line along which the horse travels, a few inches to one side of the row of plants, the wheels B and O being on opposite sides of the row of plants. As the machine is drawn along the chopper is rotated and thins out the plants, and by reason of the lateral adjustment permitted to I00 the chopper, the operator, by taking hold of the handles, can move the chopper laterally, so as to keep itvalways over the plants, and avoid skipping any of them if the horse should deviate from an exactly straight line.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination, in a cotton-chopper, of the rotating axle, the gear-wheel fixed thereto, the bearing E on the axle, the bearing F, pivoted thereto, and the shaft H in the bearing F, having the chopping-wheel, and the spherical pinion meshing with the gear-wheel, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a cotton-chopper, of

l the rotating axle, the gear-wheel fixed thereto,

E, loose on the axle, the bearing' 

